The yellow and red bear who loves jars of honey has apparently been ‘blacklisted’ by internet censors in the country following the memes comparing him to the President.

According to the Financial Times, searches on Chinese social network Sina Weibo for ‘Little Bear Winnie’ – which is the name given to Pooh Bear in China – resulted in an error message reading ‘content is illegal’.

At the same time, gifs featuring Pooh also disappeared from WeChat, a messaging app in China.

It is not known for certain that the memes are the reason behind the censorship, but it is suggested by the FT.

President Xi Jinping (Picture: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

The censorship comes ahead of the country’s Communist party congress this autumn and while.

Memes comparing Xi Jinping to Winnie are believed to have first emerged in 2013.

One particular image shared at the time showed Winnie The Pooh walking with his bouncing friend Tigger alongside an image of Xi Jinping walking with former US President Barack Obama following a visit at the time.